Bloom boxes

Nina A. Koziol, Special to the TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Winter Solstice and howling, bitter winds are coming, but in the midst of change, there are always new beginnings. At least that's what James Cramer and Dean Johnson cheerfully state in their book, "Window Boxes Indoors & Out" (Storey, 176 pages, $16.95). The book is filled with ideas for creating simple but elegant seasonal displays in window boxes, pots and other containers in the garden, on balconies, decks and indoors.

"When the weather is so awful and dreary, it's nice to have some color inside and out. The whole idea is to show people how to [plant in containers] year-round. Window boxes give the house a face-lift. I say change them every three to four months," Cramer says.

At his home in Maryland, Cramer plants window boxes and crack-resistant containers with small cotoneaster bushes, Alberta spruce trees and boxwood for a winter display. "The cotoneasters trail over the edge and provide red berries for color all winter. I have a [big] garden, so I keep the containers simple," Cramer says. He uses pine cones as decorative mulch over the planting mix.

"It's a lot of fun to switch out plantings with the seasons," says Wally Schmidtke, garden center manager at Pesche's Garden Center in Des Plaines. When the pansies and kale have petered out, Schmidtke uses branches of pine, spruce, holly, boxwood, winterberry and redtwig dogwood for color in his outdoor containers. "If you spray the evergreens with Wilt-Pruf, an anti-desiccant, it keeps them looking nice a lot longer," Schmidtke says. Branches and evergreen sprays add height and dimension to his designs.

"You won't see a lot of fluffy, lacy leaves," Riven says. "We're using big tropicals with modern straight lines like sansevieria. It's almost a no-care plant that survives with little light or full sun. It's extremely popular with those who don't have time to baby plants."

Large jade plants, some 20 to 50 years old and priced at $175 to $500, act as dramatic floor plants in medium- to bright-light situations. "They are very dark green and dense and have knobs and twists in the trunk," Riven says. For bright spaces, Riven recommends large cacti. "They're columnar or spiral and great for a dry high-rise with lots of windows."

A large water papyrus or umbrella plant (Cyperus alternifolius) creates an elegant tropical look, Rivens says. "It's a little more high maintenance because the pot sits on a saucer of pebbles that must be kept filled with water. It's more work, but not hard by any means." A 5- to 6-foot papyrus costs $100 to $150.

If you're tempted to use that leggy rubber tree or moth-eaten spider plant, move it to the back of a grouping of pots. "People can't bear to throw away anything living so they'll live with a plant that's just a stick because they've had it forever," says interior designer Fern Brogan of Lakeside Interiors Inc., of Wilmette.

In Brogan's hands, houseplants become inviting, easy-to-change accessories. "Plants are great for filling empty corners," Brogan says. "They're especially nice in a kitchen on the table or an island. They make it seem so much warmer."

She groups plants in various heights on a table behind a sofa and highlights them with a single lamp aimed up from the floor.

Brogan also scours antiques stores for old Hershey's cocoa tins to hold flowering plants in the kitchen. An Art Deco glass candy dish becomes a plant pedestal on a side table. And an inexpensive painted pillar from a craft store or a washtub or metal crate turned upside down adds height to a plant grouping. "Everybody loves copper washtubs but doesn't know what to do with them," Brogan says. "I start on the floor to get height for a grouping and work up. That makes the arrangement more natural looking and less boring."

A few pots of English ivy, pepper plants, a porcelain figurine of a French boy and a Chinese crackle vase become a simple vignette. "It's dramatic," Brogan says. "There are shadows, height and color in the grouping."

For one client, Brogan placed a bed in a guest bedroom on an angle and grouped several large dramatic plants behind the headboard. "It gave the room a tropical feel," she says. "All you need is a calming CD."

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Now, set the stage

Interior designer Fern Brogan of Lakeside Interiors Inc. in Wilmette and horticulturist Jane Riven of Jayson Home and Garden in Chicago share these tips for creating and staging containers indoors and out:

- Cover all bases. Use pine cones, dried moss (sold in garden centers and craft stores) or holiday ornaments around the base of large plants.

- Set the mood. "A small accent light shining up into the plants makes them more dramatic," Brogan says. Don't make it too big or too bright."

- Make it match. "Choose a plant that matches your conditions," Riven says. "If you have low light from your windows, don't get a high-maintenance plant that needs lots of light and constant care."

- Craft a look. Add holiday sprays from craft stores to pots of plants and change them with the season.

- Add flowers. Brogan adds a few floral tubes filled with water and cut flowers to her houseplants to brighten greenery.

-- Nina Koziol

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Learn more

A "Winter Window Box Workshop" will be offered by the Chicago Botanic Garden from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, and 1 to 3 p.m. or 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the botanic garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe. Cost: $62. Call 847-835-8261 or see www.chicagobotanic.org/continuinged.